Page 5

BOONE

I’ve been naughty.

Not in a pleasurable way, either.

One night after Knox came home, I did a little snooping.

I found a piece of paper with a website on it for mate matching.

It looked interesting enough. It is not only interesting because of the hype surrounding Select-A-Mate, but also because of its success rate in finding scent match mates and pairing them together.

It seemed like a cute all to our problems.

Tripp is getting worse. His ruts are becoming more and more intense. The next rut he may not even come back from.

We’re not exactly sure what triggers his rutting. I know it’s not all an omega’s heat because of that first time he pinned Hailey to the wall. I think it has more to do with the scent an omega permeates than it is their heat.

All I know is that Tripp needs help.

We all need help.

It’s way past time for a mate. I don’t know about Knox and Tripp, but I’m tired of not having an omega in our pack. Having an omega would solve all of our problems, and we would be more settled. Surprisingly, Knox and I haven’t succumbed to a rut like Tripp does.

We’re playing with fire.

After stealing the paper from Knox’s bag, I went onto the website and filled out the questionnaire for our pack.

I also downloaded the app onto my phone just in case we get matched with someone.

I didn’t ask for permission from our First Alpha, Knox, but I figure it’s better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

Not when we need someone as severely as we need a mate.

Ever since, I’ve been biting my nails from the nerves thrumming through my body. Every ding from my phone makes my breath hitch as I think it could be a notification from Select-A-Mate telling me they found a match.

Every time, I’m let down, too.

Four days now, and there hasn’t been one hit for our pack. I’m beginning to lose what little hope I have.

I go through the motions day after day. I’m not present when I teach my classes or when I’m at home with my pack.

Both Knox and Tripp can tell something is eating at me, but they’re respecting me by not asking.

At this rate, I wish they’d go ahead and get the questions out of the way.

Maybe then I’d be able to relax and not freak out every time my phone dings with a notification.

Like, right now, we’re all sitting down to a dinner Tripp made from scratch.

He’s an excellent cook, and usually, I love eating his creations.

However, my mind isn’t in the present but lost to the ‘what ifs’ that the website/app is causing to swirl inside my head.

I’m too busy worrying when I should be in the here and now with my pack.

I’m startled out of my thoughts when a hand touches mine. I look up at the source, seeing Knox giving me a tight smile.

“Is everything okay?” he asks.

I nod, swallowing hard past the lump in my throat. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” His eyes continue to search mine as if he’s trying to learn all my secrets.

I don’t keep secrets from my pack. Not usually. This is the first time I’ve ever kept something from them.

I laugh his worry off. “I’m fine. I’m just thinking about one of the papers I had to grade today.”

I’m not. At all.

I’m not even thinking about the mound of papers in my briefcase that I need to grade before tomorrow’s lecture. I’m too worried about what will happen when the guys find out that I basically pimped our pack out to some website in the hopes of finding our forever omega.

Tripp would take it in stride, but I’m not so sure about Knox. His reaction is the one I’m dreading. He’s been very adamant about not needing a mate, that we can survive without a claim on an omega.

I’m not so sure.

Claiming an omega will make us even stronger and more connected.

Claiming an omega will save Tripp.

“You’ve been working yourself too hard,” Tripp says as he stops shoveling food into his mouth. He’s eating like he hasn’t in months, and I know it’s because he’s getting his strength back from being out just over a week and a half.

That week and four days were among the scariest of my life.

I didn’t think Tripp would ever become coherent enough to take care of himself.

Instead, Tripp was in and out, only being able to eat small things before he was back out again.

We had to force water down his throat to keep him hydrated and had to serve up our bodies on a platter to help alleviate the need to rut.

Some people may balk at that if they were to ever find out, but I don’t care. I’m not going to allow Tripp to remain in a position that can hurt him, and neither will Knox. We will do anything to help him and have done everything. If it’s within our power, we will do it.

“It’s not too bad. The beginning of the school year is always hectic,” I say, cutting my steak and taking a bite.

“I’m fine. Promise. It’s just the beginning of the school year, and you all know that’s a hectic time,” I say, cutting a piece of steak and putting it in my mouth. I chew to keep from caving under their watchful gazes.

I don’t want them to know that I’m too terrified to tell them something.

They’ll really try to get it out of me then.

I don’t want Knox or Tripp to find out about the profile until we get a match.

When that happens, I’ll have to tell them what I did.

Until then, I want them to live in blissful ignorance.

As if on cue, my phone dings with a notification. My eyes widen and then flick up to meet theirs. To my horror, both have stopped eating and have turned their attention strictly to me. They sit there, all menacing and brooding silence, while I sweat bullets under their attention.

“Are you going to answer that?” Knox states, eyes flicking down to my phone and then back up.

“I think I’ll wait.” I know what that notification is because I set the notification alert to be different than the other alerts on my phone.

I know this is what I’ve been waiting for.

But now I’m terrified of what the outcome is. This site works a little differently from all the other sites out there. Instead of judging someone based on their appearance, this app evaluates them based on the answers to the questionnaire.

To Select-A-Mate, appearances do not outweigh personality. There isn’t even a spot to put a profile picture; that’s how seriously they take matching someone based on their personality and traits, rather than appearance.

The whole thing makes me leery, but I know my pack needs help. Tripp is one rut away from landing in jail. Knox is one drop in the poll away from losing everything he’s worked so hard for.

He thinks I don’t know what his campaign team tells him, but he’s wrong. They reiterate everything to me and Tripp so that we can work together in the background to ensure Knox's success.

Up until now, we didn’t have to step in and do anything. Hell, for all Tripp knows, we still have yet to step in.

Except I have. I did. And they’re probably going to wring my neck for this.

Knox clears his throat. I can feel his dominance envelop me, and I try my best not to let it show that I’m feeling it. I don’t know how good I play it off because a moment later, Knox smirks.

“No, I think I’d rather you check it now, packmate,” he says, picking up his wine glass and swirling the contents. “Tell Tripp and me what our little alpha has been up to.”

Shit. Fuck. Damn.

I swallow hard. “It’s nothing. Probably just someone from the school wanting me to check something.”

I catch him tossing a look Tripp’s way before settling his intense gaze on me once more. He says nothing, merely sits there and stares. I’m sweating bullets under his watchful eye, and I just bet he’s getting a kick out of this.

When it’s just us, Knox is playful and light-hearted. He’s not the stoic male that everyone else sees. He has feelings and fears, and he’s not a robot. He’s not the persona he has to play for the masses.

When his attention becomes too much, I let out a sigh and pull my phone out of my pocket. Right there, on the screen in front of me, is a notification from Select-A-Mate. Before I have time to check it, Knox reaches over the table and snags my phone.

“Hey!” I cry out, reaching for it. But it’s too late.

He sees exactly what I was seeing.

You have a match-Select-A-Mate .

“What’s this?” he asks, knowing good and well what it is, considering I initially got the paper from his bag.

I say nothing. I continue to be silent, pushing my food around my plate.

“Boone, is there something you want to tell us?” Tripp asks when Knox shows him my phone.

Clearing my throat, I shakily grab my glass of water and take a drink. It takes everything in me not to slosh it over the rim from the nerves wreaking havoc on my body. Usually, I’m more controlled than this, but I can’t help it this time. I’m a nervous wreck.

“It’s … a …” I shift in my seat.

“Well, it looks to me like we have a match,” Knox states, and I can’t tell if he’s mad or not by the way he has tight control of his voice.

This version of Knox is not one we see very often, but it’s a version that has me on the edge of my seat.

Everything pauses as we all three sit and stare at each other. Our food grows cold, but I couldn’t care less. I’m nearly buzzing out of my skin right now. I don’t know whether to apologize for overstepping or to laugh it off. Knox is giving nothing away, either.

“Say, Tripp, looks like we have a match,” Knox says, and then, be still my heart, he slides his finger across the screen and opens the notification.

He stares at my phone for entirely too long before he meets my eyes once more. “Where’s the picture?”

Oh, boy. How do I explain this without him blowing a gasket?

“Well, you see … Select-A-Mate doesn’t exactly do that,” I reply.

“Doesn’t exactly do what?” His voice grows deeper, more dominant.

I shiver under his scrutiny. “It doesn’t do … pictures.”

“No picture?” he asks, frowning. “Why?”